Author's Notes: Pardon my jumping around to this portion of the story. I need more time to think about how I want to do the heist, and it looks like it'll take more time for the characters to develop a plan anyway, so I'm going to push forward a little bit.
Oh! Before I forget, we are getting closer to this season's end, so I'll be proofreading Season 2 like I did with Season 1. New episodes may come out during that time, so your notifications might throw you off, but I'll put codes and other information in the story's summary to let you know when you can proceed in your reading. Once I'm fully done and everything looks good, the story summary will be changed to accommodate for the new arc and the characters or character pairings at the bottom will change as well. You will also see a warning for Season 3 in regard to Toga, Inu no Taisho. I mentioned this before, but, if he is a favorite character of yours, I personally don't recommend you read Season 3 at all because that's when I dive deeper into his character. I'm not as nice as Takahashi was with him. I don't make him into a villain, but he does have moments that aren't pleasant, so discretion is advised. I also am not as nice to the original cast either, but that's purely because of Kaede, Hikozaemon II, and Ohta. They each have clapback moments that'll seem harsh, and I know you all have a favorite from the original cast, but don't take any of it to heart. I'm not bashing them. I'm just opening up some spots in their characters.
WARNING: This is, to me, a "blue balls" kind of episode as in there are moments where the leads tease you with implications. You can give me a rating on a scale of 0(meh) to 5(DO IT!) if you like. Otherwise, I'm open to suggestions on how to properly execute a slow-burn relationship. I do want more practice on that.
No one could believe it. How could they? Dressed in white and gold, their beloved leader was laid to rest before them on wooden scaffolding ready to be burned. He looked no older than seventy or so. They were all within that age range. Maybe two or three gents were closer to eighty. His hair was salt and pepper gray, skin kissed by the sun with its golden-brown complexion, lips and face relaxed like he was merely taking a nap..., but he was as still as any other corpse. Meioshi kissed Arimasa's forehead, backed away like she was going to faint, and was caught by her friends as she wept. She stepped away completely to let the myrmidons view the body of the man they once called their king, their friend, their comrade in battle. Kirameku Ha was the first to approach him. He shook his head in disbelief at first, body shaking as he reached a hand out to touch Arimasa's cheek, and snatched his hand away when he felt the familiar frost of death on his brother's person. A tear escaped him at last. Arimasa was gone. The rest of the men followed suit. Each one touching a hand or the corpse's cheek or his chest to feel some semblance of a heartbeat. Nothing. How? How could this warrior, their leader, their foundation just be gone?
Lord Aka probably took it the hardest. He knew Arimasa as a boy when Kokina Hoshi returned to the Hell Travelers' Threshold with him at his side. Back then, no one lived in the historic parts of Old Heiwa. It was strictly a training ground for the hell travelers. That little boy who offered Aka a meat bun... wasn't smiling anymore. He wasn't running around in play anymore. He wasn't looking at the stars anymore. He wasn't making toy boats anymore. He was gone... One lone finger stroked Arimasa's jaw and a stream of golden tear fell from the old demon's eyes to make six golden beads on the ground. Probably next in line to take the loss the hardest among the demons of the world was Shanwang. Though he didn't get close, as that was against oni tradition, his mouth did twitch a bit and his eyes held some measure of sadness in them. Of all the masters, he enjoyed Arimasa's sense of humor and found that the man held a bit of oni charm within him. It was in his confident swagger and style of dress. Meioshi had to have struggled to prepare his body for the viewing. He turned to her and saw her being rocked by her friends. He said nothing as he looked on, but he looked at Arimasa one last time before leaving to return to his prison. Kiyonobu was fighting every fatherly instinct in his body to let Meioshi grieve, but the ceremony was quite beautiful.
Flowers surrounded the cremation scaffolding, and it looked like some wooden boats were made to sail on cloths the color of the sea. Shizukesa was also fighting her supportive instincts. That may have been why Shanwang left. It is within an oni's nature to aid another of their kind who is grieving. In funerals, they can't get close to the bodies. The kappa guardians were allowed to view the body like Aka, but they grieved calmly and lifted Meioshi up for her to leave. She had something that she had to do...
Fuyu Joo was a young lady in her mid- to late twenties. Known as the gentle beauty by many, others often called her a butterfly because of her graceful walk. For Meioshi, she was simply known as sister or best friend. She had known Meioshi since she was a little girl. Some boys were bullying the shy cutie that was Fuyu Joo, and Meioshi being the brave girl that she was punched one boy in the face and told Fuyu Joo to run when more boys came to hurt her. Though Meioshi was outnumbered and beaten up fairly badly herself, she beat up a few of the boys before the adults came in to break things up. Needless to say, Fuyu Joo was entranced by Meioshi's strong will... and strong punches. From there, the two became instant friends, and Fuyu Joo learned that the reason Meioshi took exception to bullying was because she had been bullied herself. She was called hāfu more times than she liked, but her father, Teruya, spanked her without hesitation when she expressed hating being half-Indian. He taught her a great lesson of what it meant to have pride in one's heritage, so, when her parents said it was okay to defend herself when someone called her that, she had been fighting ever since. She was inspired to be the best at whatever she did and to be strong against whatever came her way after her father and paternal grandfather, Viswamitra, gave her that stern talking-to. Seeing Fuyu Joo being bullied for no reason struck a nerve in Meioshi, and she became a sort of bodyguard for Fuyu Joo even in their adult years. All because of her fathers' words.
Fuyu Joo was at the beach, waiting for Meioshi to emerge from the cooler waters and remembering the times when they used to play together on this very beach. The gentle beauty had her parasol propped open to protect her delicate skin as she smiled. They were about nine years old when they snuck out to the beach during lunchtime at school. They had an hour-long break. Plenty of time to play on the shores! Fuyu Joo remembered that day like it was yesterday. They were supposed to return to ikebana lessons. Meioshi hated those so much! When it was late spring to early summer, the doctor used to ache to go swimming. So much so that she would be more observant of teachers when they're guard was down around certain parts of school because most kids didn't know about the secret routes or invisible doors along the side. She'd time them all the way to the second to see how long she had to escape far enough to swim out. After school, she would either ask her father or her mother to visit the dancing hall in the village center. Those visits were excuses to measure the distance and time it would take for her journey to the beach and back to school without anyone knowing a thing. She was too smart for her own good many times! Of course, Fuyu Joo being both curious and shy, she went with her out of both fear and excitement.
"Zhe-Zhe, where are you going?" Fuyu Joo would ask.
"Shh!" Meioshi shushed, grabbing her friend to hide and whisper. "The beach is clear around lunch. I wanna catch turtles!"
"Head instructor will kill you if you get caught!"
"That's why I need to plan this out, silly! Don't worry. I'll get you a cute one!" Meioshi said with a wink.
"What about Chiyumi? She'll have your head!"
"She gets really sleepy around tea ceremony lessons. I just need a good brew," Meioshi said. "Wish me luck!"
"Zhe-Zhe? Zhe-Zhe! Wait for me!"
Sure enough, the plan worked that year. They snuck off on certain days to cover their tracks and used different routes to get to the beach and collect all kinds of things. They never missed their lessons once they had something to look forward to. Fuyu Joo was probably the most hurt when Meioshi left school to pursue medicine, but they never stopped going to the beach together around lunchtime. In fact, Meioshi opted to continue her etiquette training as an extracurricular activity as part of an agreement between her and her grandparents. It wasn't until that tragic day when Old Heiwa was attacked that her beloved friend had just suddenly disappeared.
SPLASH!
Meioshi emerged from the waters in a flattering swimsuit and walked to her friend to rest on a rock for a moment. Fuyu Joo clicked her tongue before crawling over to the doctor and holding her in her arms in a sweet embrace. The doctor returned the gesture and merely rested her head on Fuyu's head like old times to look out into the water. She was trying to avoid getting the gentle beauty's lovely kimono wet, but her friend didn't seem to care about that. They sat there, basking in the sun, for a little while until Fuyu Joo spoke up in that soft, sing-song voice.
"What were you doing in that cold water for so long? You'll catch something!"
"Tch!" Meioshi huffed, swaying their bodies a bit. "Imagine the irony of that. A doctor getting sick!"
"Well, it would be most unanticipated, but the possibility is always there," Fuyu Joo said. "Did you tell anyone?"
"About what?"
"Your eyes," the gentle beauty replied, stroking Meioshi's healed lids. The doctor said nothing. She only opened them and shook her head in response. "You have a pretty glow, sister. You should keep it!"
"Ha! You'll make the priests jump for joy!"
"Miki's party will be doing that," Fuyu Joo said, quirking her mouth to the side with a teasing smirk. This made Meioshi look at her with some confusion before she asked, "Haven't you heard? She was all over that elegant swordsman I saw escorting you to the palace this morning."
Seeing Sesshomaru's displeased face in her mind, Meioshi made an interesting face before spitting to laugh. She then said, "Pfft! Her and the emperor's maid. He's very popular here, I take it."
"He might've gotten a few cat calls," Fuyu Joo informed, turning her head slightly to add interest to the topic. "Turned them all down brilliantly."
"What? I missed it?" Meioshi asked, gasping with genuine amusement and a wide smile.
"We also got an invite to her afterparty," Fuyu Joo said, swaying her shoulders before sneaking a small scroll out. She earned another gasp from Meioshi and handed the doctor the invitation. It was beautifully written! "Think Miki will change that swordsman's mind about her?"
"You minx!" Meioshi responded, hugging her friend to giggle. She hadn't gossiped with anyone about boys in a while. It felt nice. "We're such gossip girls. His lordship is too emotionally constipated to regard anyone as a romantic option. You should've seen his face when he saw my books."
"Did he really?" Fuyu Joo asked, gasping with interest and covering her mouth as she giggled.
"Burned a hole through my head while I was painting Kita and her husband," Meioshi responded, brows raised before she winked.
"Oh my gosh!" Fuyu Joo replied, blushing with second-hand embarrassment. "What's he gonna do when you...? Well..."
"Ah, go to social clubs?" Meioshi asked in girl code. She earned a nod from her friend before she looked to the side and hummed in response.
"Zhe," Fuyu Joo called, tapping Meioshi's thigh a couple of times with anticipation. "Zhe. What's he gonna do? Tell me!"
"If I find the right... social club, his lordship will simply have to deal with it," Meioshi said, immediately laughing at herself for saying that.
Fuyu Joo made a noise and giggled along with her. She snorted a bit then said, "Well, when you're ready to move on, I'll be waiting for you. You did the same for me. You're too pretty to have that pout anyway. You have art to make for your loved ones. Hurry and get out of that water, doctor. You'll be sick."
Meioshi nodded, pressed her forehead against her Fuyu Joo's, and sighed. That support and that laugh was exactly what she needed. She supposed it was a good thing that her best friend reminded her about Sesshomaru. She had almost forgotten that she needed his help most of all...
The western lord was actually kind of interested in the rehearsals going on in Heiwa. He had just finished speaking with Reijiro and Sanraku about their plan to attempt this heist when Homugi walked over to them to introduce herself. She explained everything that she knew about the situation to give them better insight into how they were going to handle the dealings with the House of Inu now. Ultimately, the boys were leaning into joining the Okuri-inu more and more. Sesshomaru caught the smell of the doctor's blood in the air, however, and let the men talk to Homugi more while he investigated the matter. It didn't smell like she was mortally wounded, but her blood was mixing with sea water and... sea snake venom! Picking up his walking pace through town, Sesshomaru quickly observed his surroundings and the final preparations for this festival with very mild interest. When the scent of Meioshi's blood hit the air again, his direction and pace regained momentum and he made it to a section of the beach that was adjacent to her blasphemous art studio. What he saw happening at this virtually empty space was enough to make someone faint of heart have a panic attack.
A sea snake demon tossed the doctor into the air before eating her whole and diving into the water! Without hesitation, Sesshomaru kicked the creature and startled it. Its head shot out of the water, and it smacked him with its tail harshly and swiftly enough to rocket him into the water. When he opened his eyes to retaliate, he spotted one of his worst nightmares inching its way around him. He went to slash at the tentacles of what he believed was a moon jellyfish, but instead cut straight into skin and a gurgling of pain sounded before the doctor's blood filled his own mouth with its fresh, spicy taste. Eyes widened, Sesshomaru was simply speechless. The pink and gold dress that she wore at the emperor's luncheon was nothing compared to this jellyfish suit. The bottom was a wide fundoshi, but the skirt she was wearing was as transparent and ethereal as the water. She seemed to be wearing two layers for a traditional swimsuit look. The uppermost layer was sheer and flowy to give off the look of a jellyfish, but the innermost layer was closer to the body and structured for deep sea swimming. The colors were the most captivating, but her eyes... It started to make sense now. The grapple bears were like their Mama Mei-Mei in a dangerous way. She had to be a mother's worst nightmare when she was about Ohta's age. There was no way her father had a moment's peace if she looked like this in her youth.
Angered by Sesshomaru's attack, Meioshi snatched him by the armor to pull him up to the surface, but the western lord snatched his hand away. No touching. Defiance kicked in along with a lack of oxygen. Meioshi growled at him and snatched him up again. He fought out of her grasp until she pulled him closer to her body to make eye contact with him. She was not happy whatsoever. He... was not happy about being this close to her body. Despite the cold temperatures of the water, he could feel her body heat near his face and neck. When she gripped his wrists and pulled him closer by wrapping her legs around him, he really fought to get away. They struggled against each other until Sesshomaru felt Meioshi kick a rock and propel them upwards. The gyrations of her body swimming and pushing against his hips in wavy motions made him struggle again, and it wasn't until she kicked off another rock that he realized what she was doing. She wasn't trying to hurt him. She wasn't even in danger. Had he simply stopped struggling, he would have noticed that she was simply elevating him back up to the surface. When he realized she had no intention of harming him, he relaxed and let her swim up. That's how their rivalry seemed to work. He could struggle and fight and try to do things on his own, but she'll be right there to elevate him to the level he's meant to be on. He wasn't letting his answer... be his answer...
Watching the marine life exude brilliance and color, Sesshomaru let himself look at the beauty surrounding him. So much color and intrigue! Feeling Meioshi's core tightening, he looked up to see... wait... her eyes! Meioshi's eyes came back! How? They were ripped out! The doctor couldn't answer his questions, though. She merely closed her eyes and ascended to the light of the sun... She was one with the sea...
SPLASH! Coughing sounded.
"Why on Earth are you in the deep if you can't swim?" Meioshi asked after flipping her ponytail and loose hair back. "A ceremonial death is more honorable than this method."
"Quiet!" Sesshomaru snapped.
"Yell at your own stupidity!" Meioshi retorted, wincing at her leg wound.
Sesshomaru turned the other way to respect her privacy, but he was fully displeased with her remark and said, "A demon was after you, fool. Stay on your guard."
"Was it a snake demon?" Meioshi asked, rolling her eyes at his words. As though the creature knew it was being called, the sea snake demon popped out of the water and nuzzled against Meioshi's body. It let out a soft hiss and produced healing venom to clean up the wound. Sesshomaru's nasty scratch disappeared in an instant! He watched her rise to her feet to stand, held out her hand to cradle the snake's chin, and said, "She's friendly. Go dry up."
SPLASH!
"Who was he?"
The sea snake demon asked this using telepathy. Meioshi was carefully inspecting some coral for an eye-catching specimen, annoyed at Sesshomaru's earlier behavior. Why'd she even bother to ask for his help anyway?
"Just some silly old dog looking for a fight," Meioshi replied. She looked to the demon and asked, "Did he hurt you, darling?"
"Just a scare is all!" the sea snake demon replied, pointing its tail at its chest in response. "He jumped into action rather quickly when he thought you were in danger. New interest of yours?"
"Hell no!" Meioshi replied quickly, anger making the water bubble and heat up around her. "I want a man that can actually swim, thank you."
The sea snake demon visibly shot its head back in shock and said, "He can't swim? Really? Here, I thought he wanted some romance."
Meioshi spat at that and shot her head back herself before replying, "Not with me, he doesn't!"
"Did you insult his mother?" the snake asked, tilting her head out of curiosity.
"That's why you hate humans."
"... I'm not apologizing."
"Oh, go on!" Meioshi said, smiling at her friend. She held up a finger and continued, "Ah, I need air. One moment."
Rising up to the surface, the doctor swam out to a bed of sand and rocks that contained her basket and jars for her specimen. That ominous presence was eyeing her before it landed next to her things. She was going to ignore the black boots and cuffed white pants completely until said presence moved the basket over like some misbehaving cat. That forced Meioshi to look at Sesshomaru with equal displeasure.
"Are you seriously still here?" Meioshi questioned, yanking her basket back. She put some of the corals of interest in jars before she felt a small kick on her hip. "Oh, I don't have time for you!"
SPLASH!
"I think he likes you," the snake said when she came face to face with Meioshi.
"Oh, go on!" Meioshi responded, swimming passed her friend.
"Well, he's not my type, but..." the snake stopped for a moment and shot out of the water to get a good look at Sesshomaru. He frowned, blinked when the snake tilted her head at him, and shook his head in confusion when the demon plunged into the water again to be unseen. The snake then continued once she found Meioshi by another section of coral and cage, "He'd be cuter without that frown on his face."
"Pfft! Well, he's popular with the locals now. They can have a go at him," Meioshi said, picking some coral off a variegated reef.
"Does he have a nice body at least?"
"I'm assuming he's of a leaner build. Not my type," Meioshi replied.
"Oh? Maybe he is my type, after all."
"Oh, go on!" Meioshi said with a chuckle.
"You haven't collected coral beauties in years," the snake said, swimming over to a chest to show to Meioshi. The doctor took out a pick to undo the locking mechanism of the chest and mentally gasped at the beads inside of it. "What's the occasion, love?"
"Memorials for my grandfathers. I need air again. A moment, darling."
SPLASH! Deep breaths. Rest. Inhale. Dive.
"Have you been spooning with that swordsman up there and not telling me?" the snake asked, coiling on a rainbow sand spot.
"If he can't join me here, I'll not join him in any other romantic setting," Meioshi answered, inspecting the snake's jewels and crystallized sand. "That's a nice name for it. Coral beauties."
"That would be us, love. You need something a bit more special in name."
Meioshi thought of a good name, turned to the snake, and said, "Wait... my darling, you are a genius!"
"Oh, go on!"
SPLASH! Gathering all her items, Meioshi finally completed her underwater treasure hunt. She hustled to return to shore with glee and took a deep breath. She let out a short laugh, hopped about, and cheered, "Finally, done! Best part of the trip!"
Sesshomaru was joined by Jaken when he heard the doctor coming out of the water. He led the way to walk up to her and confront her about earlier... until she did this...
"Doctor, you - what the hell are you doing?" Jaken demanded.
Meioshi took off her top layer of swimsuit, which was fine, but then she took the bottom layer off and exposed that shapely ass and a bit of side nipple. She then explained, "Sunbathing. This is a nude beach."
"Jaken, we're leaving," Sesshomaru said quickly, walking in the complete opposite direction of the beach. He hated the beach.
"Yes, me lord."
Author's Footnotes: Hāfu is a Japanese slur for a person of half-Japanese and half-non-Japanese descent. It has a negative connotation when used, so I don't recommend using this term as something of endearment. Someone may take offense to it. However, I wanted to share this word or term with you all as part of a history lesson. It was mainly used during World War II when Japanese women mated with US soldiers. Obviously, the origin of this word is almost 400 years too early for this story's context, but I needed a word for someone of mixed race but not of demon race.
The underwater scene is modeled after two places: the real-life Solomon Islands located east of Papua New Guinea and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt which faces the Red Sea. I wanted something both colorful and kind of dark. Solomon Islands has a shipwreck from World War II in its waters, so I chose it because of the creepy aesthetic.